Landmark
Rhode Island Lyrics

The people in the ground can't be dead
The singer believes that the deceased could not truly be dead.

It must be something more like sleep or a trick played on people instead
The singer thinks there must be another explanation for why the deceased are buried in the ground, such as a deep sleep or a subtle deception of some sort.

The dirt packed down they strain and writhe and struggle
The singer imagines the corpses buried in the ground are still struggling or trying to get free of their earthly confines, even though they have supposedly passed on.

Yesterday will make you cry
Reflecting on the past can evoke strong emotions, like sadness and regret.

Yesterday will make you fall down and die
Memories of the past can be so overwhelming that they can bring someone to their knees or feel like a kind of death in themselves.

Three or four times a year
The singer only visits the landmarks or places with historical significance a few times per year.

I will go alone to see them standing impervious there
When the singer visits these historic sites, they go by themselves and view them as unchanging, steadfast symbols of the past.

Stained by time they stand there gazing at nothing
The artist sees these landmarks as having absorbed the history of the town, and now standing there as if aimlessly and purposelessly.

I have found the landmarks and the junctions in this town
The artist has sought out and discovered certain significant locations in their town that hold stories and secrets.

Tell a story, secret history like the people in the ground
The sites the artist has discovered hold hidden stories and histories, much like the stories the artist imagines about the buried dead.

Or the mirror in your house
The singer draws a comparison between the historical landmarks and the everyday objects in one's house, suggesting that even mundane objects can hold histories and secrets.